Edmond Rostand, the genius behind Cyrano de Bergerac, turns his poetic spotlight from a man with a big nose to a young man with an even bigger name. L'Aiglon (which means 'The Eaglet') is a six-act verse drama about Napoleon II, the son of the legendary emperor.

The Story

We meet the Duke of Reichstadt in the glittering but stifling court of Vienna. He's the son of Napoleon Bonaparte, but to the Austrian royals who raised him, he's a dangerous symbol. They've spent years trying to mold him into a tame Austrian prince, scrubbing away any trace of his father's ambition. The play follows his internal struggle as old Bonapartists secretly visit him, whispering of past glory and a future throne. He's torn between the seductive call of his birthright—a destiny of power and revolution—and the quieter, safer life expected of him. It's a story of whispered conspiracies, poetic longing, and the crushing burden of being a living ghost of history.

Why You Should Read It

Forget battlefields. The real conflict here is in the Duke's soul. Rostand's verse is stunning—it soars with passion and aches with melancholy. You feel the claustrophobia of his gilded prison and the dizzying height of the legacy he can never quite reach. The Duke isn't a hero in the traditional sense; he's painfully human, yearning for greatness but paralyzed by doubt and circumstance. It’s a powerful look at how we shape our own identity when the world has already decided who we're supposed to be.

Final Verdict

This is a perfect pick for lovers of historical drama, poetic language, and deep character studies. If you enjoyed the psychological depth of Hamlet or the lyrical beauty of Cyrano, you'll find a lot to love here. It's for anyone who's ever asked, 'Who am I, apart from what I was born into?' Just be ready for a poignant, rather than a triumphant, ride.